


Thunderbolt Chronicles

by knightofsuperior



Category: Senjou no Valkyria | Valkyria Chronicles, Thunderbolt Fantasy 東離劍遊紀 (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 08:43:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16384916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightofsuperior/pseuds/knightofsuperior
Summary: A twist of fate (and maybe outside machinations) brings the Edgeless Blade and the Enigmatic Gale to the Gallian front lines. As they try to find their way back home, they find themselves embroiled in a world war, one whose fate may now turn out a tad differently...





	Thunderbolt Chronicles

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 2 come out at the same time. Keep in mind I will be using slightly localized versions of the Japanese names for the TF characters for convenience's sake.

It’s hard to really consider any battle in wartime “normal,” but for a while, this was a normal battle.

The Empire had taken a small town on the road to the capital as an impromptu base, and it was Squad E’s job to liberate the town. They’d done it quite a few times before, so Claude felt he could prepare for most eventualities.

Pincer attacks, traps, even the lucky opportunity to catch the enemy unawares. All strategies they’d employed plenty of times until now.

It seemed as if it would be another normal skirmish.

Until the sky exploded, at least.

It was as though someone had taken a paintbrush and slathered dark, purple-hued swirls on the sky, a massive roar heralding the change in weather. It looked unnatural, and the fact that Claude’s Wind Talk told him nothing of the sudden shift was suspicious (again, discounting the very obvious ominous cloud formation). The fighting had come to a standstill, as Federation and Empire soldier alike stared up into the sky. 

This peace was short-lived.

A thunderbolt crashed down, sending a shockwave across the battlefield, as it hit the city center. Tanks shook and soldiers stumbled backwards as they tried desperately to maintain their ground. Crackles of lightning and smoky wisps emanated from the site of impact, but it was hard for Claude to truly make out anything in the haze that followed.

“Squad E, status report!”

A muddled mix of voices came over the radio.

“I’m okay! What was that, though?”

“What the hell just happened?”

“Dammit, I think some of the smoke got in my mouth!”

More voices expressing similar sentiments flooded into Claude’s radio. By the sounds of it, everyone was okay. “Alright, Squad E,” Claude began. “I need you to retreat back and regroup at-”

“Claude!” Riley’s voice rang clear, her tone worried. “There’s-oh, God, I think someone got hit by that bolt!” 

“What?!”

“There’s someone lying there-I can’t make out much, but it looks like they got hit point blank!”

Swearing under his breath, Claude pulled out a pair of binoculars, trying to get a closer look. “Damn! The smoke’s too thick, I can’t-”

A shadowy form arose from within the smoke, wobbling back and forth.

“What?” Claude nearly dropped the binoculars, scrambling to keep them in his hands. “How can anyone stand up after that?”

The form seemed to stumble through the smoke, slowly coming into greater focus. It was an adult male, clad in a white-and-brown robe, with his jet black hair tied in a top-knot. What appeared to be a stick-a blade of some kind, perhaps?-sat on his hip, holstered to his robe, and his sandals made loud clacking noises on the concrete street.

As the smoke finally cleared, the man took a look around him. Coughing, he wafted the last of the polluted air away. He raised his head to the sky, watching as it cleared back into empty azure.

Then, Claude watched in horror as the man turned around, staring straight into the barrel of an Imperial rifle.

* * *

Sho Fu Kan was not having the best of mornings.

Last he recalled, he was fast asleep, staying in an inn a little off the beaten path. It seemed like a good idea at the time. For once, no one was chasing him. No one wanted him dead. The damned cult had finally been taken down (as best he could tell, at least), and the only other problem he had was Lin Setsua. The damned thief kept coming back like a bad rash, but at least he’d managed to get him to stop spreading those stupid stories. 

All he had wanted was a good night’s rest.

Then, there was an explosion.

Sho could feel himself falling, hurtling downwards, despite having been flat on the ground not moments before. It was like being pulled through a drain, twisting and turning every which way.

Only one thought filled his head at that moment:

“The Enigmatic Gale has something to do with this.”

Sho felt himself hit the ground like a ton of bricks. Voices echoed around him, confused and loud. With a groan, Sho pushed himself up, stumbling through a cloud of smoke and his own hazy vision. “Okay,” he began, working towards getting his bearings. “Let’s start this nice and-”

A long muzzle came into view as the smoke cleared, pointed straight at Sho’s face. It shook in the hands of a man in full-bodied, crimson red armor. A soldier of some kind, by his estimates.

“-easy,” he finished. “You may want to watch where you point that thing. Someone could get hurt.”

“W-who are you!?” A voice called out from behind the gunman’s mask. “How’d you survive that?!”

“Survive what?” Sho asked, glancing around. More men in red were converging on their position, with what the swordsman presumed to be weapons at the ready.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” The muzzle came closer to Sho. He could see a fine amount of crafting had gone into it-he’d be slightly impressed, were it not for the fact that it was likely designed to blow his head off.

“Who’s playing anything?” Sho asked. “I’m serious here-I’m just as lost as you are.” He turned his head to the other soldiers. “Can any of you tell this guy to calm down?”

“Don’t presume to give us orders,” one of the men growled, a much larger weapon in his arms. “You’re in no position to give them, anyway.”

“Commander, look at his hair!” Another soldier exclaimed. “He must be a Darcsen!” 

“A Darcsen?” The commander looked Sho over, his body tensing up. “That would explain the filthy look to him.”

“I don’t even know what the hell a Darcsen’s supposed to be,” Sho grumbled, “But something tells me you’re not a fan.”

“Silence.” The commander gestured to Sho’s blade. “Drop the weapon.”

Sho frowned. “I’m not entirely inclined to.”

“That wasn’t a request.” The commander raised his weapon, training it directly on Sho. “I’ll say it again. Drop the weapon.”

* * *

“This isn’t good!” Claude hopped out of the Hafen, gesturing to the closest squad members he could find. As they approached, he gestured towards the scene of the lightning strike. “A civilian is in the line of fire. We have to help them!” He picked up his radio. “Raz, where are you right now?”

A growl came from the other end. “The damn blast knocked me a good few hundred feet back, but if I book it, I should be able to reach you guys!”

“Forget about us!” Claude insisted. “Focus on getting the civilian out of there!”

“Right, right; I’m on it!”

He tuned the radio slightly. “Kai, do you have visual on that enemy commander?”

“Barely. There’s still some smoke blocking a full view, but I should be able to make the shot!” 

“Right. Riley,” Claude continued, tuning the radio once more, “Once the commander’s down and the civilian is recovered, we’ll need mortars to keep the Imperials from following. As soon as Kai takes the shot, get ready to fire!”

“Got it!”

* * *

Sho carefully moved his left hand towards his blade. “If I do what you say, will you calm down and explain to me what all this is about?”

“What’s there to explain?” Even under the helmet, Sho could tell the commander was sneering. “You wandered into a war zone, you moron. You may have survived that thunderbolt-”

Sho blinked. “Survived the what now?”

“-but it must have been some kind of fluke if you’re so eager to die here!”

Sho sighed, placing his right hand on his forehead. “Okay. Look. It’s clear we’re off to a hell of a misunderstanding. How about this: you let me go, I don’t cause any trouble, and you go back to playing war or whatever it is you’re doing. How’s that sound?”

“That’s it!” The commander’s finger found the trigger of his weapon. “You’ll pay for your impertinence, Darcsen scum!”

Sho closed his eyes. “Yeah, that’s about what I figured.”

The commander fired.

A mere moment later, he crumpled to the ground.

* * *

Claude grinned, turning on and to his radio. “Nice shot, Kai!”

“What’re you talking about, Claude?”

“Huh?” Claude glanced back at the fray, to the fallen body of the commander and the confused soldiers surrounding it. “No need to be modest. You took him down in one shot!”

“But I haven’t fired yet!” Kai’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“...what?” Claude picked up his binoculars once more, focusing them. 

The commander had indeed fallen.

However, the civilian was standing over him, with what appeared to be a blade in his left hand.

* * *

“Honestly…” Sho lowered his blade, glancing down at the corpse. He shook his head. “I gave him an out.” He looked to the others. “Hey, one of you. You just gonna stand there or are you gonna take your wounded?!”

The soldiers were silent, taking steps back as Sho walked closer to them. One finally stammered out “W-wounded?! He’s clearly dead!”

“Don’t be stupid,” Sho replied. “I didn’t hit his head, or anything vital. Look.” He gestured with his blade towards the commander. “He’s in shock, but he can make it just fine if you take him back to wherever your healer is.” He turned away, glancing back at the battlefield again. “Now, can one of you point me in the direction of the nearest inn-”

Sho saw a flash in his peripheral vision, and swung his blade. A decent-sized metallic shell fell to the ground in front of him. He glanced up at the soldiers. The very same fellow who had been threatening him at the start of this mess shook with fear, his weapon smoking. “W-what the hell?!” 

“...so.” Sho crossed his arms, tapping his blade impatiently on the ground. “Are you done?”

The other soldiers immediately raised their weapons.

Sho scratched his nose. “Didn’t think so.”  He raised his own blade. “I’ll try to ease up on this one, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

* * *

Raz was itching for a good fight.

After all, everything about this situation got his blood pumping.

Mysterious sky bullshit, a chance to save a civvie being harrassed by the Imps, and a whole squad of enemy soldiers just waiting for bullet holes.

The civvie had some kinda sword raised up in the air, and the Imps actually seemed to be spooked by him; no doubt they were scared shitless from their commander biting the bullet. He’d have to thank Kai for that one.

“Let’s get ready to rumble,” Raz roared. “It’s fightin’ time, ya Imp bastards!”

It took him a good five seconds to realize he wouldn’t be getting that fight, and an extra two seconds to realize he should run.

The civvie lowered his sword with a flourish, swiping the air in front of him.

The Imps, like a stack of dominoes in a tornado, went flying. Their armor cracked under some kind of invisible pressure, their bodies tumbling into each other and then the ground.

Raz stared at the groaning masses, his trigger finger twitching something fierce. His curiosity outweighed his desire to finish the Imps off (and, hey, they weren’t going anywhere), however. He approached the civvie as carefully as he could, watching as he sheathed his sword. “Seriously,” the man complained, “I can’t get away from this nonsense anywhere. Always the weirdos in armor, too…” He paused, turning straight towards Raz. “Can I help you with something?”

“You already did, bro!” Raz exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. “What’d you do to those Imps? It’s like they were ragdolls in a hurricane!”

“Imps? Oh,” the man asked, gesturing to the soldiers, “You mean those guys? I told them that I just wanted to know where an inn was, but they didn’t seem to be in much of a conversational mood.”

“An inn? Don’t know about that; kinda new around here,” Raz joked. “But if you want-”

“Raz!” a voice called out. “Stand down!” 

Raz rankled at the sound. He watched as his C.O. approached, flanked by a couple of the new recruits Squad E had gotten (Veese and Aeya or something?). “Aw, come on, Claude! I was just talkin’ to the guy!”

“And you didn’t think that was a terrible idea?” Kai asked from behind Raz, her rifle at the ready. 

“What the-holy shit!” Raz jumped nearly three feet in the air, stumbling forwards. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Kai!”

“I wouldn’t have if you were paying attention.” 

“That’s enough, you two.” Claude approached the group, his focus solely on the civilian. “What happened here?”

“Ok, so, this dude was surrounded by Imps-” Raz began.

“I want to hear it from him,” Claude clarified. “If you would, Mr…”

“Sho Fu Kan.” The swordsman scratched his nose nervously. “Honestly, it’s not anything special. I asked for directions, and they got violent. I did my best to deal with them non-lethally.”

At this, the enemy commander let out a groan. Raz and the two recruits quickly surrounded him, stifling any potential movement. “Darcsen bastard,” the commander hissed, “You call this non-lethal?”

“Well, you didn’t die, so.” Sho shrugged. “Surprised you’re conscious, though. Mind telling me what a Darcsen is now?”

“Go to hell!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sho glanced at Claude. “So, what’re you gonna do with him?”

Raz grinned, tapping his machine gun. “You know what my vote is.” 

“No,” Claude replied. “He’s too wounded to be a threat right now. We’ll take him to base. Command can take it from there.”

Static came over the radio. “Claude, this is Riley. Are we still go for the covering fire?”

“Negative,” Claude replied, watching the Imperial soldiers scamper back to their quickly-emptying bases. “It looks like the Imperials are pulling back. All we need right now is to take any camps we can before the Imperials can scour them.”

“Roger. I’ll pass it along.” 

“Thanks, Riley. As for you,” Claude continued, turning back to Sho, “While we appreciate what you did, we will want you to come with us as well. Command will have plenty of questions about what happened here-as well as that swordplay of yours. A non-lethal style is...unusual, let alone using a sword in general in this day and age.”

“...and what day and age would that be, exactly?” Sho asked. “Last I checked, nearly everyone had some kind of sword, or a knife, or even a bow.”

“The hell?” Raz asked, scratching his head. “You some kinda hermit?”

“More of a nomad,” Sho replied. “Can you ask the little lady to put down that thing, by the way?” His gaze shifted to Kai, who frowned in return. “Can’t help but feel a little nervous after this whole mess.”

“I’m a man,” Kai replied.

“I stand corrected, then,” Sho shrugged. “Sorry bout that. Point is, care to put away that thing?”

“It’s alright, Kai,” Claude confirmed. “I think he’ll be coming along willingly.”

“...fine,” Kai replied, stowing the rifle away.

Sho let out a sigh of relief.

After all this, maybe he’d finally get some peace and quiet.

A laugh echoed through the air. “Glad we’ve got that mess sorted out! Do you mind if I tag along on your little excursion, Edgeless Blade?” 

Sho could feel the cold, creeping sensation of dread crawling up his spine.

“...Gale. If you’re not a stress-induced hallucination, I will punch you in the face.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that, surprisingly,” a velvety voice replied. A shimmer of light burst from behind Squad E. Out from it came a man clad in furs, a blue cape, and a robe as white as his hair. “But let’s leave such violent thoughts at the door, Sho Fu Kan. After all…” The man smiled. “We’re in a whole new world. Don’t you want to leave a good first impression?”

“...how much of this is your fault?” Sho asked.

“Only about 25%.”

Sho grimaced. “Fantastic.”


End file.
